WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1843
293
money was expended-never accounted for, and heavy demands are yet suspended against the government for supplies procured by him to sustain the troops. The "corn campaign" of 1840, un- der Major General Felix Huston, cost the government upward of a hundred thousand dollars, and resulted in nothing but the pur- chase and waste of property. If the Executive, in whose hands the power has been placed, by the constitution, were to project and carry out campaigns and be held strictly accountable to the nation, his responsibility would be such that if he wasted the means placed at his disposition, he would be punished for an infraction of the laws or for trans- cending his powers. But where officers are made independent of the law, there is no accountability; nor can any benefit result to the country from such a course of policy. The present bill contemplates the appropriation of fifty thou- sand dollars for the support of six companies of fifty six men each, without prescribing in what manner they are to be equipped, or whether they shall be mounted or infantry. A sum adequate for this purpose could not be reduced below three hundred thou- sand dollars per annum.- And whether it would be possible in the present depreciated state of our currency to procure with the proposed sum the necessary ammunition and such other supplies as would be indispensable for their proper maintenance, admits of serious doubt and is believed to be not within the power of the nation. The cost of sugar, coffee, salt and bread-stuffs alone, at points so remote from where they would have to be procured, would render the furnishing of supplies impossible. The govern- ment has not the means of transportation, and could not expect to obtain the teams necessary for that service. It is to be apprehended, also, if companies are detached so far from the frontier settlements as the points designated in the bill on the Rio Frio and at the White House on the Nueces, that they would be continually liable to surprise, harrassment, and immi- nent peril from the enemy. The service would be very laborious; and to guard securely their horses, so as to preserve them against loss, would require a number of men gi·eatly disproportionate to the number of those fit for duty. They would have no fortifica- tion or place of shelter against the enemy. If attacked by a force from the Rio Grande, they could have no hope of succor, and before they could reach a point on the frontier, if they were to attempt a retreat before a superior force, the probability is that
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